Abstract

Plants of the Brassicaceae family are widespread in the Mediterranean regions where they are widely consumed cooked (cauliflowers, broccoli, turnips) or as salads or condiments. These plants are a good source of bioactive compounds of nutraceutical relevance1,2. Among them the glucosinolates (GLS), responsible for the plant pungent aroma and bitter taste, are of particular interest. GLS are the most studied bioactive compounds in the Brassicaceae family and epidemiological studies have shown an inverse correlation between consumption of brassica plants and risk of cancer3. We have focused our attention on three Brassicaceae, B. oleracea, B. rapa, and Eruca sativa traditionally eaten in Puglia. The edible inflorescences of B.oleracea var italica, locally called “mugnolo” and traditionally cultivated in Salento, are characterized by the presence of the aliphatic GLSs glucoraphanin (1.79 μmol/g), glucoiberin, glucoerucin, and sinigrin, and by a good content of the aromatic GLSs glucobarberin (0.56 μmol/g) and gluconasturtin, and of the indole GLSs glucobrassicin (3.51 μmol/g), neoglucobrassicin, 4-methoxyglucobrassicin, and 4- hydroxyglucobrassicin2. In the leaves of Eruca sativa, particularly consumed as salad, the most abundant GLS is glucoraphanin. In the aerial parts of B.rapa there are three predominant GLSs: two indole GLS neoglucobrassicin (1.65 μmol/g) and glucobrassicin (0.97 μmol/g) and the aliphatic GLS gluconapin (1.13 μmol/g). Given the importance of Brassicaceae for their content in GLSs, we have also studied the accumulation of these metabolites during the different stages of growth taken B. rapa as plant model. The aerial parts of B. rapa have been found to contain more GLS during the budding stage. Moreover we have observed that at budding indole GLSs are dominant while at flowering there are more aliphatic GLSs. This gives an added value to B. rapa since it’s known that hydrolysis products from the indole GLSs have anticarcinogenic properties by induction of phase I or phase II detoxification enzymes4.

Autore Pugliese

• Argentieri Maria Pia , Avato Pinarosa

Tutti gli autori

• ARGENTIERI M.P.;AVATO P.

Titolo volume/Rivista

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Anno di pubblicazione

2012

ISSN

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ISBN

97888897341086

Numero di citazioni Wos

Nessuna citazione

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Settori ERC

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Codici ASJC

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